Protection offered by employment and equal opportunities legislation OCR Diploma

 All employees have 2 types of rights at work.  Statutory rights  Contractual rights

Statutory rights  These are the legal rights of everyone in the country.  No employer can take these away or reduce them.

 These include  Your rights to be protected against being dismissed unfairly  Your rights to be treated fairly and not to be discriminated against  Your rights to receive equal pay, if you are doing equivalent work

Contractual rights  These can only give you more rights, not fewer.

Protection against unfair dismissal  Many organisations have 2 types of procedures in place:  Grievance procedures enable employees to complain about the way they are treated  Disciplinary procedures enable employers to take action about the way employees behave

 These procedures help to give workers protection against being treated unfairly because:  Staff know what to do if they have a problem  Staff concerns and complaints are investigated fully by the appropriate manager and outcomes are recorded

 Staff can obtain help and advice from a staff representative or trade union official who can accompany them at any formal meeting  All managers know the action they should take in a situation  All staff are treated in the same way

Grievance procedures  Most concerns and complaints made by staff are dealt with rapidly and informally. Occasionally, however, there may be a serious issue relating to the way an employee is treated which cannot be resolved in this way. In this case the employee may use the official grievance procedures. These are usually in 3 stages:

 The complaint is investigated within the department.  The employee may be accompanied by another person eg colleague or union rep.  The employee’s manager has to give a response to the grievance.  This may be the end of the matter.

 The complaint is pursued outside the department.  If the problem is not resolved then a more senior manager will consider the evidence and make a decision.

 The complaint is pursued outside the organisation. Some companies allow for a further interview to be held with an outside 3 rd party who will make a recommendation.

Disciplinary procedures  In this case, the employer has a complaint about the employee. There are normally 3 or 4 stages:

 A verbal warning is issued for a first or minor offence.  It must be made clear to the employee that this is an official warning and not a friendly chat.

 A written warning is issued for a serious offence or a repeated minor offence.

 A final warning will be issued if the employee has previously received a written warning and repeats the offence or commits a further offence within a specific period.  This warning can be issued straight away if the offence is serious.

 The employee can be suspended, demoted, transferred or dismissed if the offence is very serious or continually repeated.  A very serious offence is often called gross misconduct.  The employee may be instantly dismissed (sacked)

Grounds for dismissal  Stealing  Being drunk or taking drugs  Fighting on company premises  Wilful disregard of H&S instructions  Smoking in unauthorised areas  Falsifying accounts  Persistent absenteeism  Abusing the computer system – s etc

Legal reasons for dismissal  Fair dismissal  - where an employee is sacked for a valid reason - examples  - an employee has breached his contract  - there is no work – made redundant  - the employee has lied about his qualifications

Equal Opportunities and discrimination  Most organisations have an Equal Opps policy which states that they do not discriminate against anyone on grounds of  Colour  Race  Nationality  Ethnic or national origin  Sex  Being married  Disability

Other main statutory rights  The right to be paid a salary at or above the minimum wage rate if you are over 18.  The right not to be forced to work more than 48 hours a week, averaged over a 17 week period.  Not be asked to work more than 40 hours a week  Not to do night work if you are yrs

 The right to receive redundancy pay  The right to apply to work flexibly if you have a child under 6  The right to see computer records about you or paper files which contain your personal details. Your employer can make a small charge for this.  The right to be given reasonable time off to study or train for a qualification up to NVQ2 if you are 16 or 17 and working.

Activity  Page 303  Write brief notes on:- The Laws against discrimination  What is meant by a) Harassment b) Victimisation

Activity cont  Page 304  Why was the Equal Pay Act 1970 introduced? What does it ensure?